Ahmedabad EOW arrests Surat man for ₹8.5-crore pharma raw material fraud

The Ahmedabad City Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested a Surat businessman for allegedly duping a long-time trading partner of pharmaceutical raw material worth ₹8.5 crore by repeatedly defaulting on payments and stopping cheques issued for the consignment.

According to ACP (EOW) Manoj Chavda, the accused, Vikas Sharma of Surat, had been dealing in pharmaceutical raw material with complainant Sagar Desai for the past two to three years. Sharma posed as the proprietor of a pharmaceutical company and regularly placed orders for bulk raw material, initially paying on time to gain Desai’s confidence.

Police said that after ordering material worth around ₹8.5 crore, Sharma began issuing cheques that he subsequently had stopped at the bank, effectively withholding the payments. “Despite repeated reminders and assurances, the accused failed to clear the dues and resorted to stopping the cheques he had given,” ACP Chavda said.

Frustrated, Desai lodged a formal complaint with the EOW. Investigators discovered that Sharma already faced multiple criminal cases: four registered against him in Maharashtra and another with the Ahmedabad EOW. He also had a history of earlier offences and was in judicial custody at the Central Jail when EOW officers executed the arrest in the present case.

Police said Sharma will be produced before a local court for remand. Further investigation is underway to trace the misappropriated funds and to identify any associates in the fraud.